|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday April 4,
2007! A
service of Midwest Farm Shows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Hard Freeze Aiming for Oklahoma Easter Weekend
-- HACCP- one of the reasons we still have the safest beef supply in
the world!
-- Two weeks away- and still some slots left for the Oklahoma Beef
Industry Conference in Stillwater!
-- Leading "Green" group wants NO part of fence row to fence row
planting for biofuels boom!
-- Dates are set in May for 2007 Grain Grading Schools in the
Oklahoma Wheat Belt.
-- Our Neighbors in Kansas have got lots of Weevils this
spring.
-- Japan is sidestepping calls by US to fully reopen their market to
US beef once OIE calls us a "Controlled Risk" BSE country.
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. Our email this morning is a service of Midwest Farm Shows, featuring the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City April 19-21, 2007, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show held each December. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here. If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here. | |
Hard Freeze Aiming for Oklahoma Easter Weekend ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After several
spring like days, much colder air will work its way towards our state,
with weekend lows expected to be below the freezing mark in northern
counties and close to the 32 degree mark in Central Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service office in Norman offers this observation in their latest weather forecast discussion- "OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE COLD WITH SEVERAL NIGHTS OF TEMPERATURES NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING ACROSS NORTHERN OKLAHOMA- WITH FREEZING TEMPERATURES POSSIBLY AS FAR SOUTH AS CENTRAL OKLAHOMA BY THIS WEEKEND. AT THIS TIME LOOKS LIKE THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA WILL OCCUR SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING WHEN WINDS ARE LIGHT AND CLOUD COVER IS LOW LEADING TO BEST RADIATIONAL COOLING CONDITIONS." In fact, temperatures in and around northeastern Oklahoma look to fall into the mid 20s by early Sunday morning. Temperatures with a two in front of them worry fruit tree producers, as well as winter wheat producers when the wheat has passed the jointing stage and is starting to develop a head. We have linked our general weather page below where you have several choices to select including the weather sites of both News9 in Oklahoma City and the News on 6 in Tulsa. The site that features Travis Meyers in Tulsa from KOTV has lots of good graphics and informational links to further investigate the weather in a variety of ways- check it out! | |
HACCP- one of the reasons we still have the safest beef supply in the world! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On today's
Beef Buzz from the Radio Oklahoma Network, we have Dr. Gary Smith of
Colorado State joining us once again with a fascinating story about how he
and Dr. Brad Morgan- now with Oklahoma State University- were key players
in the development of HACCP for the beef industry.
Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points is what the acronym stands for- and Dr. Smith says that the beef industry embraced this concept after the Jack-in-the- Box e-coli outbreak in 1993. This has allowed folks along the beef pipeline to throw up roadblocks to stop e-coli and other nasty pathogens from making it downstream to the consumer. The Beef Buzz can be heard on Radio Oklahoma Network stations across the state as well as on KXDJ FM in Perryton, Texas- and you can also hear today's edition by clicking below- we also have many of our Beef Buzzes archived on our web site under- you guessed it- the Beef Buzz!!! Click here for the latest Beef Buzz with Ron and Dr. Gary Smith. | |
Two weeks away- and still some slots left for the Oklahoma Beef Industry Conference in Stillwater! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. David
Lahman of Oklahoma State University wanted me to remind cattle producers
of the "new and improved" version of the old Advanced Cattle Management
seminar held on campus each spring. The 2007 Oklahoma Beef Industry
Conference is set for April 19 and 20 at the Conoco Phillips Activity
Center and has an All Star list of names that are on the program.
They will cover policy and Washington goings on with Jay Truitt of the NCBA's Washington office, Consumers' Beef Perceptions and Attitudes with Ted Schroeder, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, the Macro Economic Climate with an official from the Kansas City Federal Reserve office and the cattle market outlook with Dr. John Lawrence of Iowa State. We have the link below to check out the conference- they will take up to 120 people and Dave Lahman says they have a few more slots remaining. GO to the website- or you can call Dave at 405-744-6060 in Stillwater for more information. Click here to go to the OSU website location for more info on the Oklahoma Beef Industry Conference. | |
Leading "Green" group wants NO part of fence row to fence row planting for biofuels boom! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ethanol and
biodiesel holds much upside potential. But according to the President of
the American Farmland Trust – Ralph Grossi - we must take into
consideration the effects of biofuels policies on our working lands and
natural resources. Grossi points out that -nearly half of American land is
working farm and ranch land - and it is an irreplaceable resource. He says
- these lands are the basis of our nation's productive competitive
advantage in agriculture - they provide healthy food for our world's
citizens - renewable fuels and open space - wildlife habitat and cleaner
water.
While there are many benefits to renewable fuels – Grossi says - increasing the production of fuel from a limited agricultural land base will inevitably create pressures on our land, water, air and wildlife habitat. The American Farm Land Trust has written to the Senate and House leadership to suggest three ways in which Congress can address these pressures on agricultural land. The suggestion includes - ensure that new mandates or incentives for additional biofuels production be accompanied by a dramatic increase in working lands conservation programs -- energy policies must spur energy efficiency and discourage waste –- and vigorously support the development of the next generation of biofuels. | |
Dates are set in May for 2007 Grain Grading Schools in the Oklahoma Wheat Belt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OSU Extension
Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson has once again organized a
series of Grain Grading Schools in cooperation with several groups-
including the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association.
Sessions are planned this year for Altus, Clinton and Enid, beginning May 8th. There will also be a single Canola Grading School during the sessions in Enid- the Canola session planned for the afternoon of May 16. For more information, contact Dr. Kim Anderson at OSU in Stillwater at 405-744-9817, or go to the link provided below for a couple of pages of information on this opportunity. Click here for the 2007 OSU Grain Grading School dates and locations. | |
Our Neighbors in Kansas have got lots of Weevils this spring. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kansas State
University entomologists say alfalfa weevils have been extremely active
throughout Kansas this spring. Kansas State crop production entomologist
Jeff Whitworth says - reports of alfalfa weevil activity have been pouring
in. The first calls started coming in from south-central Kansas about two
weeks ago - which is three to four weeks earlier than normal. Obviously,
many of the reports are coming from areas adjacent to Oklahoma.
Whitworth attributed the insect activity to unusually mild weather conditions that evidently caused alfalfa weevil eggs to hatch and larval development to proceed at a very rapid pace. Samples taken March 28 from fields in central Kansas indicated 60 percent of the larvae were already in the 2nd instar stage - and about 20 percent were in the 3rd instar. The others were 1st instars. Whitworth predicts – that if mild weather conditions continue the majority of the feeding will occur over the next 10 to14 days. Wet weather has been delaying much-needed insecticide applications. He says - the next question is - if fields are too wet to treat for another week and the majority of the feeding and consequent damage is done soon after - will it pay to treat? According to Whitworth - probably in northern Kansas. We have linked below the Mesonet Alfalfa Weevil Model, which can help you make decisions about the need to spray for weevils here in 2007. You can scout your fields, count the weevils you find, consider the height of your alfalfa and then click on the Mesonet station closest to you on the model to get a recommendation on whether you have reached the economic threshold level for spraying or not in your location. Click here for the Oklahoma Mesonet Alfalfa Weevil Model site. | |
Japan is sidestepping calls by US to fully reopen their market to US beef once OIE calls us a "Controlled Risk" BSE country. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ United States
Trade Ambassador Susan Schwab has told the Minister of Agriculture in
Japan that Tokyo should relax their criteria for U.S. beef imports once
the OIE issues their expected ruling in May that the US is a controlled
risk country for BSE, which means that we can safely trade beef from
animals of any age- boneless or bone-in, as long as the appropriate
Specified Risk Materials are removed at the time of slaughter.
The Japanese have failed to offer any assurance that they will honor the OIE findings- as they are saying instead that they demand that the U.S. allow in Japanese meat inspectors to verify whether or not the firms that are shipping beef to Japan are in compliance with the rules for shipping beef to Japan. Meanwhile, in case you didn't see the story in recent days- a tip of the hat goes to Walmart- as their stores in Japan- Seiyu- are carrying US beef in their meatcases once again and is the largest retailer to date that has stepped up to carry US beef where the average Japanese consumer can come in and buy the product. We have linked a story on the reopening below. Click here for more on Seiyu offering US beef to Japanese consumers once again! | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows for their support of our daily Farm News Update. Go to their website at the link at the top of today's email for more information on either the Tulsa Farm Show or the Southern Plains Farm Show. We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe. | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
